Poor Kai screams bloody murder almost every time we change him and give him a bath. I always try to keep any body parts I'm not working on covered so he stays warm - and warm the wipes up in my hand - but still, he cries and cries.

Have any experienced parents out there found a way to stop it?!?

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

Poor Kai screams bloody murder almost every time we change him and give him a bath. I always try to keep any body parts I'm not working on covered so he stays warm - and warm the wipes up in my hand - but still, he cries and cries.

Poor Kai screams bloody murder almost every time we change him and give him a bath. I always try to keep any body parts I'm not working on covered so he stays warm - and warm the wipes up in my hand - but still, he cries and cries.

Have any experienced parents out there found a way to stop it?!?

How old is Kai? You may try warm sponge baths instead of a dip in water and perhaps get a wipe warmer? Sometimes it is something you just have to wait out.

_________________Otters main method of attack is forceful hugging. ~amandabear

Yep, probably gotta wait it out. Silas hated baths until he was sitting up on his own, then loved them and has ever since. He loved diaper changes until he started walking and then hated them for awhile. Crazy phases.

How old is Kai? You may try warm sponge baths instead of a dip in water and perhaps get a wipe warmer? Sometimes it is something you just have to wait out.

He's only 15 days old. So I am just doing warm sponge baths because his cord hasn't fallen off yet. I thought about a wipe warmer...but maybe I do just need to wait it out. Its amazing how loud a 15 day old can cry!! *sigh*

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

Yeah, I don't think it's you! Sorry to hear it, though, and I hope he gets over it soon!

We didn't bathe the Emperor a whole lot at that age because he didn't love it and it was freaking cold out too. There were a couple parts of the bath he did like... having water poured on his head, for one... and we would do those parts every couple of days and then just sponge the rest of him off as fast as possible.

Someone told me to sing a particular song during diaper changes (ours was Little Bunny Foo Foo) and I remember that seemed to help. I think he was mostly confused by it, but whatever works, right?

I'm with everyone who says its just a phase. But yep it is a LOUD phase for sure. What helped with diaper changes for us was having a toy/stuffed animal that played music (in our case Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) on hand that we would place next to her every time we changed her. It seemed to help distract and also to make the diaper change into a more fun routine I guess.

How old is Kai? You may try warm sponge baths instead of a dip in water and perhaps get a wipe warmer? Sometimes it is something you just have to wait out.

He's only 15 days old. So I am just doing warm sponge baths because his cord hasn't fallen off yet. I thought about a wipe warmer...but maybe I do just need to wait it out. Its amazing how loud a 15 day old can cry!! *sigh*

God, I'm probably going to sound like SUCH a horrible parent for this, but at 15 days old, it's okay to wait a while to bathe a babe. I only ever washed under chins and on the diaper area for the first month or so. It kept things quick and the areas that got puke and poop got cleaned. A wipe warmer will be good well into the toddler period, AND most of them will fit washable cloth wipes if you use them.

_________________Otters main method of attack is forceful hugging. ~amandabear

one of the best things i learned to do with a newborn was to fill the tub up really full and as warm as i found comfortable, and take the baby in with me. i think most people make baby baths not warm enough and not deep enough, which makes them cold and angry. tzippy hated the first couple of baths she got at the hospital, but loved getting in the bath with me once we were home. i don't think we had to wait for the stump... just dried it carefully afterwards (i can't really remember, but the midwife suggested doing it as soon as we got home, and she was only 2 weeks old i think?). the other plus is that postpartum mamas need long soaks too, so it's a win win. it's also awesome for promoting breastfeeding. tzippy really seemed to relax and enjoy floating in the warm water, and always nursed really well after.

as for diapers, just get faster! i don't think that screaming stage lasts too long though. warm water on the wipes does help, as does low lighting and something to look at.

Hey, we don't have to feel guilty about not washing our newborns much. (Notice I said we washed the Emperor occasionally. He lived!) It's not like they do a lot to get themselves dirty.

We still only wash the kid two or three times a week, and it's only more frequent now because a) he gets REALLY dirty now and b) he's figured out that he really likes to sit in his baby bathtub on the shower floor while I shower. Actually, he will open the door to the shower and go in there and play just throughout the day if I let him.

Emma cried for both diaper changes and baths when she was that young! She still whimpers when I lay her down to change her diaper but it's because she wants to sit up. I usually had to sing to her that young. Now, I just give her a toy to busy her hands and her mind so she doesn't think about Mommy wiping around her goods!

i will admit to not doing much cleaning of my son when he was very young, but around three weeks, i started getting into the tub and putting him on my belly for baths- just water, no soap or anything, but it did wonders for soothing him (and helped him settle down and nurse when he was upset when i got home from class/teaching).

I have a question about bathing with newborns: aren't they likely to pee/poop in the bath, thereby making both of you dirtier than you were to begin with?

yeah, i'm sure he peed when i bathed with him, but i never noticed a poop when he was younger. Actually, at 16 months, he bathes by himself and i have gotten our first bathtub poops in the past week. Yippee.

eta: at first his poops were linked to feedings- boob in, poop out. about the end of a long nursing session or 10 mins after a shorter one- diaper change. As he got older this lessened.

We had this thing that hung over the changing area that had a mirror on the bottom of it plus some bell type things and that completely changed our diaper changing experience when Reno was a few weeks old. She loved that thing.